


Love Scraps

by Yve



Category: Rune Factory (Video Games), Rune Factory 4
Genre: F/M, Fluff, by request, dorks being cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 12:29:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4263312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yve/pseuds/Yve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was made in response to a request/prompt from someone on Tumblr who wanted to read a ficlet about Bado making a set of cookie cutters for Frey. It was such an adorable prompt, I had to do something with it, so here you go! :)</p><p>My tumblr is <a href="http://yvesaffection.tumblr.com">YvesAffection</a> if you ever want to drop me a request or comment or come see my fan art posts :P</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Scraps

“What’cha makin’?” Kiel chirped as he leaned over Bado’s work table, peering curiously at the thin ribbons of aluminum alloy the tall, dark-haired dwarf bent with a pair of pliers in each hand as he watched.

“None of your beeswax, kid.” The bearded man rumbled in his basso voice, glancing up with warning in his eyes at his foster son. Kiel only smiled wider in response. The boy did not appear to take the threat from the dwarf at all seriously, despite his formidable height and bulk. He merely eyed the smile lines etched deeply at the corners of the man’s eyes and to either side of his mouth with a slightly distant, knowing look in his face. Noting the boy’s glinting eyes, Bado pointed the narrower of the pairs of pliers at him and furrowed his brow. “And I better not find out you spread a rumor about this before tomorrow, either.” He growled.

Kiel blinked at that and turned his head to look at a Calendar hung crookedly on the wall across from the work table. His eyes scanned to today, the 24th and then skipped one square to the right, where the pre-labeled calendar marked the 25th as ‘White day’. The boy’s sandy eyebrows climbed high on his brow over his blue eyes. He looked sidelong back at his guardian.

“Who?” He asked with a curl of mischief in his soprano voice. Bado glowered again.

“Wha’d I just say?” he said gruffly, and bent the metal ribbon once more, closing a peculiar shape and then clipping off the excess with a pair of thick steel cutters. Kiel ignored him, leaning closer to look at the metal shape. Now that it was complete, the shape formed an iconic silhouette every person in Selphia would recognize instantly. Kiel furrowed his brow at Bado.

“What?” The huge man asked as he saw the boy’s expression change. Kiel pointed at the recently completed shape

“You aren’t worried it will make her sad?” He asked slowly. Bado blinked and looked with a surprised, appraising look at the boy as if he were not quite sure whether the kid could see right through him or not. He hesitated for a moment or two, then warily replied, bending an eyebrow at the blond boy.

“Nah, I’m not. I ain’t just sad when I see somethin’ that reminds me of Your dad, after all, and neither are you.” He said reasonably in carefully measured tones. “She sure doesn’t want to forget her, anyway.” He added, turning over the shape in his big, angular hands.

“None of us do.” Kiel said. “But she took it the hardest. What if she’s not ready?”

“This kinda thing is about the only way to get through it. Ya can’t pretend grief ain’t there, or it’ll never fade. Trust me, kiddo. She’s gonna be fine and I’ll bet this’ll be good for her in the meantime.” He said with certainty. Kiel said nothing, looking thoughtfully at the shape the wide metal band had been formed to describe.

“She gave you something on valentine’s day didn’t she? I thought I saw a fancy wrapped cookie in your room the other day…” He noted curiously.

“Same as she gives everyone else.” Bado sighed halfway between impatience and resignation as he tweaked the shape again, noodling with it until the angles were perfect.

“Nuh-uh.” Kiel shook his head, “Yours was chocolate. Mine was vanilla, and Leon’s too.” Bado looked up and stared at Kiel, blinking in surprise, then his features abruptly became masked by a carefully ambivalent expression.

“That so?” He mumbled offhandedly as he turned back to his tinkering. A pronounced smirk tugged on the corner of Kiel’s mouth.

“Yep.” The boy replied in a chirp of good humor. Then he stood up and stepped toward the door. “Anyhow, I gotta go do some baking for tomorrow. Good luck, Bado.” The tall dwarf raised a hand in a lazy gesture of farewell as the boy left the blacksmith shop and then went back to scrutinizing and tweaking the metal shape in his hands.

***

The following morning the same tall dwarven man stood before the entrance to Selphia’s Castle of the Divine Wind at the center of town with tension in his broad shoulders. His pointed ears twitched as a gentle fall breeze with a little chill in it blew through is dark, ruffled hair. He fidgeted with a parcel tied with a silver ribbon in his big, squareish hands and straightened the bow. Then he looked from the gift up to the castle door again and sighed, stepping forward and pushing it open.

Inside, the huge expanse of the dragon chamber yawned before him, sunlight pouring in from the great open ceiling above. The large circular platform in the center of the room seemed vast and empty these days, without the huge feathered form of the Divine Dragon of wind sitting upon it in all her splendor. Empty except for a small pile of offerings at the edge facing the door, that is. There were flowers and fresh vegetables, especially shining golden ones, which had been Ventuswill’s favorite laid carefully to either side of a vacant space about the exact size and shape of a dinner plate at the center.

In the first weeks following her departure, the dais had been covered in elaborate gifts and offerings, piled high with bouquets and mementos of all shapes, sizes, and colors each showing as best they could the heartfelt feelings of the people of Selphia that had been her subjects. Now, months later, the only person still making daily offerings was the princess of Selphia.

Bado stared down at the dais with lines of worry in his brow. A little ‘oh!’ plucked at his left ear and he looked around to find a sleepy young woman with braided hair looking up at him from the doorway to the kitchen and dining hall of the beautiful edifice.

“Hey, Clorica.” He called mildly, raising a hand in greeting. The young butler was dressed in her usual formal uniform and her white-gloved hands were folded neatly in front of her.

“Good morning, Bado.” She answered in her quiet, delicate voice. Then she eyed the parcel and its silver ribbon in his hands, stepped sideways and gestured through the doorway with a small smile. “She is in the kitchen. Please.” She gave a polite little bow to go with the invitation. Bado inclined his head, thanking her with a slight blush in his cheeks and ears and stepped through the door.

A richly sweet smell wafted around him as soon he entered the wing where the kitchen was located, familiar enough and permanently tied to the castle for anyone who visited often. He kept walking until he reached the actual kitchen and the sizzling of a frying pan greeted his ears as he walked in.

A young woman with long, glossy green hair like that of a forest nymph tied into twin pigtails stood by the stove with a flower-trim apron fastened around her sweetly curved figure. With one hand she gripped the handle of a cast-iron skillet, rolling her wrist to rotate the pan and spread the batter she poured from a pitcher with the other hand into an almost perfectly circular pool in the center of the pan. Then she set down the pitcher and picked up a spatula as she stared at the half-cooked pancake, apparently waiting for the appropriate time to flip it.

Bado smiled with warmth in his eyes, silently watching her as he stood in the doorway. The woman was wholly fixated on her task and did not notice the dwarf despite his uniquely large size and bulk right away. He waited silently until she had judged it time to turn the pancake, deftly flipped it in the pan and watched it another minute before shifting it onto a stack of already completed pancakes on a plate beside her. She closed the burner on the stove and began slicing pats of butter onto the stack of pancakes. He held the parcel behind his back and stepped quietly forward until he was just a few feet away from her as she poured a generous quantity of syrup over the breakfast.

“Mornin’, Frey!” He called. The little woman gasped and turned around on the spot, her cheeks pink and her eyes momentarily wide with surprise. He grinned.

“Oh!” She cried shrilly in a breathy voice, then smiled and brushed a bit of her bangs out of her eyes. “You startled me. Good morning, Bado. You’re here pretty early.” She added.

“Yeah, well…” He shrugged, “I figure today’ll be a busy day for you and I wanted to drop by before all the guys start clamoring to give you cookies.” He grinned at her as she blushed again.

“You talk like I’m some kind of—“

“Princess?” He finished, grinning more broadly as she flushed more deeply scarlet. She looked away and fidgeted with the edge of her apron. He chuckled warmly in his deep voice. “Well, yeah.”

“You know I’m not…” She returned with a smirk, shifting her weight and resting her hands on her hips as she tilted her head at him. Now the tall man blushed as he eyed her posture. One of his pointed ears twitched slightly. He cleared his throat and blinked a few times.

“Close enough. Anyhow, I brought ya somethin’” He said, his voice turning slightly gruff and informal. He produced the parcel and held it out to her. Frey leaned forward and peered at the package as she tentatively took it into her slender hands, eyes flicking up to his face uncertainly. “It’s some leftover scraps from a forging project. Nothin’ special. But you’re smart, I figure you can think of a use for ‘em.” He added in that same gruff, casual tone.

Frey untied the silver ribbon and peered into the little bag. She blinked and dipped her delicate fingers into the parcel, drawing out a wide ribbon of gold-colored metal bent and welded into the iconic shape of a turnip. She turned it over in her hands until recognition flashed in her eyes and one corner of her mouth turned up in a smile.

“Cookie cutters?” She inquired in a sweet, curious voice. Bado shrugged, his attitude a little too nonchalant to be believable.

“I _guess_ you could use them that way. I mean, they’re just some random leftover scraps that I threw into a bag, so any resemblance to recognizable shapes are just accidental, ya know.” He said offhandedly. Frey set the golden turnip cutter on the big wooden table in the center of the kitchen and pulled out the rest of the cookie cutters one by one, smiling at them as she lined them up on the table to look at the whole set together. A pumpkin, potato, cabbage, and a graceful flower all made in gold metal joined the turnip on the table’s wooden surface. Then she pulled out one in silver, a feather with notches in the side to represent the breaks in the feather’s fibers. Finally, she reached into the bottom of the bag and pulled out the last, and largest of the cookie cutters.

Frey’s eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat as she stared at it. Bado watched her face silently, himself motionless and leaning slightly forward on his big feet. The silvery band of metal in her hand was carefully shaped into the outline of a great regal dragon with feathered wings and curling horns atop her head. It was just the same as the Noradian crest above the entrance to the dragon hall, and the dragon who once dwelt within its walls. Frey’s eyes glistened momentarily. Bado smiled as he watched her, unblinking. Then she sighed, smiling and held the cookie cutter to her chest with her hands folded over it. Bado let his breath out in a careful exhalation.

“Thank you, Bado.” She said softly, looking up at him. “This is so sweet and thoughtful, especially since you made them yourself.” He put on a confused face.

“ _Made_ them? What are you talking about, Frey? Didn’t you hear me before? I told ya these are just scraps! Accidents.” She looked at him flatly, raising one eyebrow. “It’s just a fluke.” He insisted.

“You _accidentally_ made a cookie cutter shaped perfectly like Venti? And this one that is a feather?” She raised both her delicate eyebrows at him incredulously. “And I suppose these smaller gold ones shaped like vegetables are all just flukes, too?”

“Yeah, weird, right?” he said with a shrug as he grinned with his hands on his hips. A wry smirk tugged on the corners of her mouth.

“Yeah, but not the weirdest I’ve seen from you, I suppose.” He shrugged again and smiled at her.

“Hey, though, if you do end up using them to make cookies, I wouldn’t mind another like the one you gave me last week, if you have another extra sometime.” He added, his voice less sure than before. A broad smile bloomed on Frey’s face and she shook her head, tossing her green hair. She stepped forward and threw her arms around his middle, hugging his broad frame tightly and burying her face in his chest. He froze in place and stared down at her in shocked surprise, but he made no move to try and disentangle her from himself.

“You thick-headed oaf!” she said with mock exasperation, still grinning. “That wasn’t an _extra_.”


End file.
